Author
Topic: Extreme fear Please Help (Read 379 times)

I don't know what to do anymore I'm hopelessly lost. I haven't eaten a good meal in over a week. I've lost over 10 pounds. Everyday I fear for my life. All of this is caused by the simple action of swallowing. I have developed this extreme irrational fear of choking and suffocating on anything that goes down my throat. It doesn't matter the texture or the quantity of food or even liquid. Every time I feel like I will suffocate on it so I cough it up or if I do manage to swallow it I feel like I'm gonna drown or choke and die. This has absolutely ruined my life. I cant enjoy the simple human task of eating and drinking without panicking and feeling like I'll die. When I do eat I get food stuck in my throat and it feels like I'm slowly suffocating. Even saliva has become a huge problem. I fear that I'll even choke on that and die. Someone please help me or reassure me that none f this is possible. How would I know if my life was actually in danger and I was suffocating?

There is nothing PHYSICALLY wrong with you. Things like that don't develop overnight, normally those things are caused from years and years of acid reflux and gradually over years and years you'd feel something get stuck in your throat once in a while, nothing that would choke you or kill you, just uncomfortable - you have some kind of OCD/anxiety problem and you really have to see someone about that. No matter how much ANYONE says you are NOT going to choke, you are NOT going to die... you will not believe that. You will TRY to believe it but you are hooked into that spiral of irrational fear. Please talk to someone, not eating will mess you up, it will mess up your stomach and your electrolytes. (I say this because I had a fear about my eyes that then turned into me not being able to eat at all. I did a number on myself and I wouldn't want you do deal with the same thing) If you can suck on some ice pops, do that until you can call a therapist or something.

Sounds like your parents don't understand what you are going through. It's so hard trying to make someone understand our kind of worries when they themselves don't experience this. Do your parents know this fear? Do they see you aren't eating? How about a school counselor? Not eating can start giving you real physical symptoms that you won't like - you have to nip this in the bud by talking to someone. Like I said, you have nothing physically wrong with you just by what you said, since things like that take 50 or 60 years to get to that point, if at all. Do you go out with friends at all?

Sunny is absolutely right, sounds like a lick of a type of OCD. I'm so very sorry to hear that, but work yourself into thinking the functions your body does. Your esophagus works like a water wave, it works food downward in a forceful motion. especially at your age your are perfectly healthy to swallow anything. There are people who can swallow ungodly things and have not suffered. I mean if you're looking into swallowing pool balls, skip the cue ball because it's slightly bigger.

Have you noticed yourself trying to cutting your food into smaller pieces? If you're eating drier food and you feel that it's a bit tough to go down, have a glass of water to flush it down, think of it as a solid force working your food down, there's no stopping it. Your epiglottis is there to keep you from choking.

You've got to push past that fear and nourish yourself, even if it's just soup or something.

Was there ever a traumatic experience that triggered this? Even if you think about it once or think you're choking you'll always have that fear of doing it again, that's a definite anxiety. anxiety keeps us alive.

I'm only 16 so I can't call my psychiatrist or go when I want and my parents don't wanna take me.

You need to be straight forward with them and tell them that you have a serious issue. It is there absolute RESPONSIBILITY to make sure that you are healthy and comfortable. especially being a minor. I suggest you talking to a grandparent or an uncle that you trust and see if you can route in from there.

If your parents have insurance, then get that information and get to a psychiatrist. Schedule your appointment NOW... Psychiatrists are often very busy and you might be on a few weeks out... maybe not, depending on where you live. but seriously.

Today... get a hold of someone and go from there. This won't get better on your own, and speaking with a psychiatrist will definitely ease your anxiety and help you out.

You let me know what the outcome is, your parents should allow you the right to seek help any time something is wrong.

Especially if you have insurance all you'll have to pay is like a $25-$30 co-pay at the office. It's not really that expensive.

I don't suggest a General Physician (for example like a medical center or a hospital) or your family doctor as they don't really specialize in this... they may help you with something but to be set on a plan with that a snowball has a better chance in hell.

Get help today. get back on here and let me know how it turns out. Please.